A PROPOSAL FOR THE ADOPTION OF A SCHOOL-WIDE SEL PROGRAM:

SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND ACADEMIC BENEFITS

INTRODUCTION:

Very few people will argue against the view that all humans need to possess a certain
modicum of social and emotional skills if they are to enjoy good mental health as well as
social, economic, and physical wellbeing. The question that often arises however, is whether
schools can afford to expend time and resources in providing deliberate instruction in these
‘soft skills’ or if such time and resources are better expended in what many would call the
school’s primary obligations: the teaching of academic subject matter content.

This paper will attempt to show that there is no need to have to make such a choice. Time
spent on teaching these social and emotional skills is not time taken away from academic
pursuits. Rather, acquiring social and emotional skills equip children to function better in
school and boost school performance. (Oberle et al., 2016). For example, a 2001 longitudinal
study (Izard et al., 2001) which measured the social-emotional skills of 107 kindergartners
(knowledge and recognition of emotions) showed a positive co-relation between self-
awareness at 5 years old and academic performance at 9 years old when they were in the third
grade.

I will also attempt to demonstrate how teachers, by making deliberate choices and making a
few changes in their teaching strategies and choice of curriculum, can effectively teach Social
emotional skills even without adopting a commercial or formal SEL program. (Perez, 2021).

What is Social Emotional Learning? Social and Emotional learning (SEL) is a process of
deliberate and systematic instruction in which people acquire certain skills, collectively called
social-emotional competencies (SEC). These competencies are commonly grouped under 5
major categories:

 Self awareness. Self-awareness involves the ability to identify and recognise one’s
own emotions and thoughts, analyze them to understand underlying cause(s) and
examine how these thoughts and feelings drive our actions. (Perez, 2021).
 Self management: Self-management entails the ability to self-regulate. It involves
learning techniques that help with stress management, impulse control, motivating
oneself, and working towards achieving personal and academic goals. (Oberle et al.,
2016).
  Social awareness: Skills cultivated under this subset include perspective taking,
empathy, appreciating diversity and respect for others. (CASEL, 2019)
 Relationship skills: Persons who are competent in this category of SEL have learnt to
work co-operatively, resolve conflicts and communicate effectively by actively
listening to others and respectful speech. They have also learnt to recognize and rely
upon support systems available to them.
 Responsible decision-making skills: This involves learning to make constructive
choices (Taylor et al., 2017) by cultivating such subskills as situation analysis,
evaluating facts and circumstances, problem identification, problem solving and
critical reflection on choices. (CASEL, 2019).

A cursory examination of these competencies and their subsets should make it obvious that
proficiency in these can only lead to an improvement in quality of life. There is also a
constantly increasing body of research evidence that demonstrates the benefits proficiency in
these skills bring to students, teachers, schools and the society at large.

BENEFITS OF AN SEL PROGRAM:

Student Achievement. The primary business of schools is the training of children, so it goes
without saying that the primary beneficiaries of a program adopted in school should be the
children. Programs that have been directed at providing SEL have been repeatedly
demonstrated to have measurable immediate and long-term benefits to children’s academic,
emotional and economic wellbeing. In classrooms where SEL is practiced, teachers promote
positive student interactions. (Domitrovich et al., 2016). They develop high-quality
relationships with their students which help them manage their feelings of stress. (Perez,
2021). They provide learners with opportunities to contribute to their class, school, and
community. Children provided with these learning experiences develop a sense of belonging
and improved self-esteem, which makes them more engaged learners. (Durlak et al., 2011).
On the other hand, lack of socio-emotional skills (SES) on the part of either teacher or
learners may negatively affect teacher-child relationships and peer to peer relationships.
(Oberle et al., 2016). Emotions influence our ability to process information. Therefore, when
children cannot deal with negative emotions, they are unable to focus on learning (Denham et
al., 2014), leading to declines in their motivation to perform well academically. (Izard et al.,
2001).
There have been several studies that demonstrate these realities. Durlak et al., (2011) and its’
follow up study 6 years later, Taylor et al.,(2017) were meta-analysis of 35 studies in the case
of the former and 82 studies in the case of the later which have demonstrated that school-
based SEL programs yielded significant positive results in terms of their effect on children’s
academic attainment, pro-social behaviour, as well as economic, social and mental well-being
while also providing effective protection from negative outcomes such as substance abuse, at-
risk sexual behaviour, violence and crime-related conduct. (Taylor et al., 2017).

Longitudinal studies that have tracked beneficiaries of SEL programs into adulthood have
also demonstrated the long-term positive effect of such instruction. (Hawkins et al., 2008.
Jones et al., 2015.) In every instance, students who received SEL instruction as children
demonstrated significantly better outcomes of educational attainment, employment, and
socio-economic status as well as as well as reduced crime, risky sexual behaviour and
disease, and early pregnancy. For instance, in Hawkins et al., (2008), 34% of the intervention
group had completed some form of post-secondary education by age 27, and 93% of them
were at or above median measures of social economic status, as against 22% and 84%
respectively of the control group.

Teachers: Teaching can be one of the most stressful and emotionally demanding professions
in modern times and one of the major contributors to teacher stress is student misbehaviour.
When teachers experience high levels of stress without being equipped to deal with this, it
affects their health and well-being, which in turn interferes with the learning process.
(Carvalho et al., 2017). In recent times the teaching profession has undergone a high rate of
attrition. Reports have shown that 17 % of new teachers leave within their first 5 years of
teaching (Gray and Taie 2015 – cited in Domitrovich et al.,2016). High rates of teacher
turnover negatively impact student academic and social-emotional wellbeing. Student-teacher
bonds are disrupted and so is the continuity and consistency of the learning process. On the
other hand, in schools where SEL is adopted as a school-wide practice, teachers find
themselves working under supportive and productive conditions, equipped with SECs to
mitigate stress and deal with behavioural challenges. (Jennings et al., 2019).

Being socially and emotionally competent nurtures teacher’s pro-social dispositions such as
empathy and compassion. This helps them create a positive classroom learning environment.
(Jennings & Greenberg, 2009, cited in Carvalho et al., 2017. p. 338). Children who are
motivated to learn in these caring and co-operative classroom climates are less likely to
externalise behaviour. In a 2016 study (Okonofua et al.,), a brief intervention consisting of
two sessions in which middle school maths teachers were exposed to SEL content which
encouraged them to approach discipline from an empathetic mindset had outstanding success.
The suspension rate for students whose teachers received the program instruction was halved
over the course of the year compared to the control students whose teachers received some
other randomized information.

School Climate: When schools implement an effective SEL program, the benefits to the
school are immense. Studies have shown that schools enjoy an improved social climate,
teachers are more motivated and less stressed, children are engaged learners and there is an
overall positive learning environment in the school. (Oberle et al, 2016)

CRITERIA FOR A SUCCESFUL SEL PROGRAM

School Wide Implementation: One of the most important criterion for a successful SEL
program is to go beyond teaching a discrete or distinct SEL curriculum and move towards
integrating SEL into the daily fabric of the school. (Perez, 2021). This approach is beneficial
because when all adults in the school community collaborate and use the same strategies,
children benefit from consistent messaging. (Philibert, 2017). Explicit lessons taught and
modelled in the class are reinforced by the interactions experienced throughout the school
day. (Jones et al., 2014). In Durlak et al’s 2011 analysis, SEL programs that combined
components from within and outside the class room were more effective than those that were
only classroom based. This presupposes that professional development and training in SEL
should involve all members of the school learning community including administrative staff.
(Mahoney et al., 2020).

Enlist External Resources: Where possible, it is always best to get family and community
buy in into the school SEL program. By forming partnerships with home and community the
children will receive a consistent message in all important facets of their lives. (Philibert,
2017). Opportunities to meet and interact with parents (school open days, parent teacher
conferences, breakfast/coffee mornings with parents at the beginning of the school year, PTA
meetings) should all be utilized to gain better understanding of children’s cultural and family
backgrounds as well as getting family and community buy-in into the school SEL program.
Educators need to be willing to go the extra mile to become culturally competent in order to
be able to properly facilitate these interactions.

Embed SEL into the Curriculum: Social-Emotional competence can be built by explicitly
teaching social emotional skills in developmentally appropriate ways as well as integrating
these skills into content-teaching throughout the school day. When planning lessons,
educators should make provisions for both academic and SEL objectives. For instance a
Literacy class can be easily integrated with self-awareness objectives in which children build
connections with the emotions, motives and actions of the characters in their reading material
and explore same in their writing. (Perez, 2021). Below are a few examples of how SEL can
be built into daily routines and incorporated into teaching practice:

Self-Awareness: Pre-school children can be taught to recognize and name their emotions.
Class meetings and circle time can include activities where children are helped to name their
emotions and recognise how these emotions feel in their bodies. (Perez, 2021) Older children
in grade school can have a daily self-registration routine that includes indicating their
emotions on wall displays such as an emotion grid (Philibert, 2017). As children get older,
they can learn to develop a more nuanced understanding of their emotions and acquire more
accurate vocabulary to describe the ‘subtle gradations of emotions’ we can experience at the
same time. (Perez, 2021 chapter 5: 11:00-12:36).

Self-awareness also includes recognizing one’s strengths, goals, interests and values. (Perez,
2021). Starting early in the school year, educators need to be willing to devote a considerable
amount of time towards getting a feel for their class, building connections and enabling
children to partake in activities that foster self-examination. (Harvey & Ward, 2017; Meehan
& Sorum, 2021). Activities and practices that can help with this include:

 Creating identity webs/heart maps/ all about me classroom displays. These are
displays in which children and adults indicate who they are and what their
interests/passions are.
 ‘Show and tell’ where children bring important personal items to school and tell their
classmates about it and why it is important to them.
 Documentation – close observation and documentation of children’s actions, choices
and conversations can give educators and children opportunities to examine their
thinking.

Self Management: Once again, these skills can be systematically integrated into the school
day starting from pre-school. Daily circle time in pre-school can include explicit teaching on
self-soothing mechanisms – take a deep breath, counting down, blowing balloons and so on.
Children can start learning the skills of active listening by describing and modelling what an
active listener looks like. A sample description can be found in Philibert (2017): ‘Eyes on the
action, listening ears, tummies to the speaker, quiet mouths and bodies’.

Older kids can better learn self-management skills when educators create shared ownership of
learning in the classroom. (Perez, 2021). One of the most effective pedagogies for nurturing
independent learners capable of self-management is a project-based or other active learning
curriculum in which children ‘construct’ their subject-matter knowledge by solving real-
world problems or working towards self-appointed learning goals. A vital part of running
such a curriculum is having a challenging learning environment in which children’s curiosity
is sparked, an investigative mindset is actively supported, and children are encouraged to ask
questions, seek answers and build theories about the world around them. (Curtis & Carter,
2015). With active curricula of this type, children are granted agency and empowered to
make decisions about the subject matter of their investigations, how they want to undertake
the investigations, and assessment methods. (Perez, 2021). The collaboration required by this
type of curriculum often provides children with many opportunities to practice their social
emotional competencies. Positive classroom climates are built in an environment of co-
construction of knowledge in which all – teachers and learners see themselves as active
members making decisions about their learning, holding each other accountable and being
responsible for maintaining a respectful and engaging class.

Giving children a voice in class management helps to foster self-management. As early as the
first grade, student can have a voice in setting standards of acceptable behaviour. This gives
them ownership and make compliance more likely. (Mahoney et al, 2021).

Social Awareness: Competencies cultivated under this subset of social-emotional skills are
beneficial to both teachers and learners. Teachers can model this skill by listening attentively
to children and modelling proper conversation skills. Alert educators can make provisions in
lesson plans with opportunities for conversations e.g. turn and talk, group work, and
collaboration which provide avenues for children to practice their competency in this skill
and its subsets. (Perez, 2021).

Relationship building: The quality of students’ relationships with their teachers has been
posited as one of the strongest predictors of classroom behaviour. (Okonofua et al, 2016).
Being consciously attentive to children can strengthen the student-teacher bonds. (Meeham &
Sorhum, 2021. Teachers can exponentially improve the quality of their relationships with
their learners by having a simple welcoming routine that fosters a warm one-on-one
interaction with class members. In preschool for instance, a welcome song in which every
child is mentioned by name and acknowledged can help foster a sense of belonging. As
children get older, class meetings should still be an important part of the daily routine. Class
meetings focused on building trust in which SEC are explicitly modelled and taught can be an
‘investment in creating a calm, orderly space in which learners move with confidence and
agency’. (CASEL, 2019, p. 10.)

Supportive school leadership: School leadership is probably the single most important
factor in determining the effectiveness of an SEL program. The willingness of school
leadership to provide the enabling environment for SEC to flourish determines the quality of
SEL implementation, the sustainability of the program as well as the magnitude of
improvement seen in students. (Mahoney et al., 2021, p. 9). School leadership can ensure
success by providing:

Opportunities for Professional development. SEL can only take place in a safe environment
characterised by empathy, co-operation, and proper conflict-management. To be able to
create such a learning environment, the adults in the learning community need to have strong
SEL skills. (Mahoney et al., 2021). Several studies (Carvalho et al., 2017; Oliveira et al.,
2021) have shown the effectiveness of professional development which incorporates SEL
training in helping teachers manage stress and reduce burnout. It has been shown that the
most effective interventions were those that explicitly aimed to address the intrapersonal
competencies of teachers. (Oliveira et al., 2021). These are the interventions that help
teachers cope with ‘teaching-specific stressors’ and significantly reduce burnout and loss of
job satisfaction. (Perez, 2021)

Proper Time Management. School day timetable. In their 2016 paper, Martinez et al., noted
that insufficient time to implement the SEL program was one of the major roadblocks
identified by participants inhibiting effective implementation. To deliver SEL programs
effectively teachers need time factored in to plan SEL content in lessons, provide instruction
and modelling of the SECs, as well as time to reflect on observation, documentation and
student data gathered. (Mahoney et al., 2021).

It is important that the school day is structured in such a way that teachers can find time for
self-care and reflection, can take breaks when needed to practise their SECs. Without such
restorative practices, teachers cannot feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zones and
taking the risks necessary to cultivate the positive learning environments in which true SEL
can take place. (Philibert, 2017, p. 24)

Foster Collaboration with Family and Community: The importance of parental and family
involvement in SEL programming can never be overstated. School leadership can foster a
collaborative relationship with parents and family. Include parents in decision making and in
the SEL learning process. Opportunities for parents to participate in SEL development classes
can also be provided. It is important for parents to feel seen and heard. (Perez, 2021).

Supportive school policies. Without a complement of supportive and enabling school

policies, teacher’s attempting to implement SEL may suffer. In Oliveira et al., (2021), a meta-
analysis of 13 studies was conducted to investigate the effect of SEL professional training on
teacher burnout. Some of the studies analysed in this study (Roberts, 2019) featured
interventions which were centred on improving teachers’ professional performance. The
effects found (although not significant) were opposed to the expected as they revealed a
tendency for an increase in overall burnout. A possible explanation proffered is that
insufficient support was given to teachers, thus the training only served to increase the
teacher’s feelings of inefficacy while attempting to address demanding classroom situations
and apply the new competence. On the other hand, training in Carvalho (et al., 2021) which
provided support for participant teachers in the form of mindfulness practices and access to
coaching was more successful.

CONCLUSION:

The positive effects of Social and emotional learning in schools cannot be over-emphasized.
Schools often hesitate to implement specific SEL programmes because of considerations of
resource allocation. However, with the proper training and the willingness to make necessary
changes in school policies, most teachers can be equipped to deliver effective instruction in
SEL at minimal costs.
REFERENCES:

Carvalho, J. S., Marques Pinto, A., & Marôco, J. (2017). Results of a mindfulness-based
social-emotional learning program on portuguese elementary students and teachers: A
quasi-experimental study. Mindfulness, 8(2), 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-
016-0603-z

Curtis, D. & Carter, M. (2015). Designs for Living and Learning. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

Denham.S., Bassett, H., Zinsser, K & Wyatt, T. M. (2014). How preschooler’s social-
emotional learning predicts their early school success: Developing theory-promoting,
competency-based assessments. Infant and Child Development, 23(4), 426–454. doi:
10.1002/icd.1840

Domitrovich, C. E., Bradshaw, C. P., Berg, J. K., Pas, E. T., Becker, K. D., Musci, R., Embry
D. D. Ialongo, N. (2016). How do school-based prevention programs impact teachers?
Findings from a randomized trial of an integrated classroom management and social-
emotional program. Prevention Science, 17(3), 325–337.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-015-0618-

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011).
The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis
of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R. F., Hill, K. G., & Abbott, R. D. (2008). Effects
of social development intervention in childhood 15 years later. Archives of Pediatrics
and Adolescent Medicine, 162, 1133–1141.

Jennings, T., Minnici, A., & Yoder, N. (2019). Creating the working conditions to enhance
teacher social and emotional well-being. In D. Osher, M. Mayer, R. Jagers, K.
Kendziora, & L. Wood (Eds.), Keeping students safe and helping them thrive (pp. 210
–239). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

Jones, S. M., Bailey, R., & Jacob, R. (2014). Social-emotional learning is essential to
classroom management. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(2), 19–24.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714553405

Jones, D. E., Greenberg, M., & Crowley, M. (2015). Early social-emotional functioning and
public health: The relationship between kindergarten social competence and future
wellness. American Journal of Public Health, 105(11), 2283-2290.

Izard, C., Fine, S., Schultz, D., Mostow, A., Ackerman, B., & Youngstrom, E. (2001).
Emotion knowledge as a predictor of social behavior and academic competence in
children at risk. Psychological Science, 12, 18–23. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00304
Perez, L.M (2021) Teaching with the heart in mind: A complete Educators Guide to Social
Emotional Learning [Audiobook]. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B09595VGV3?
source_code=ASSOR150021921000R

Philibert, C. (2017). Everyday Sel In Early Childhood: Integrating social-emotional learning

and mindfulness into your classroom. Routledge.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315461052/everyday-sel-
early-childhood-carla-tantillo-philibert.

Mahoney, J. L., Weissberg, R. P., Greenberg, M. T., Dusenbury, L., Jagers, R. J., Niemi, K.,
Schlinger, M., Schlund, J., Shriver, T. P., VanAusdal, K., & Yoder, N. (2020, October
8). Systemic Social and Emotional Learning: Promoting Educational Success for All
Preschool to High School Students. American Psychologist. Advance online
publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000701

Meehan, M., & Sorum, K. (2021). The responsive writing teacher: Aligning instruction to the
writers in your classroom. Thousand Oaks:Corwin.

Oberle, E., Domitrovich, C. E., Meyers, D. C., & Weissberg, R. P. (2016). Establishing
systemic social and emotional learning approaches in schools: A framework for
schoolwide implementation. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(3) 277-297
https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1125450

Okonofua, J.A., Paunesku, D., & Gregory M. Walton (2016) Brief intervention to encourage
empathic discipline cuts suspension rates in half among adolescents. PNAS.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523698113

Oliveira, S., Roberto, M.S., Veiga-Simao, A.M., Marques-Pinto, A. (2021). A Meta-analysis

of the impact of social and emotional learning interventions on teacher’s burnout
symptoms. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-
09612-x

Martinez. (2016). Teachers’ Voices on Social Emotional Learning: Identifying the Conditions
that Make Implementation Possible. International Journal of Emotional Education,
8(2) 6–26.

Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting Positive Youth
Development Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A
Meta-Analysis of Follow-Up Effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156–1171.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864